Monday, June 22, 2009

Most often at Heroes of Capitalism we celebrate “heroes” who have brought about great social wealth and prosperity as a result of one or many successful ventures. Today I’d like to present the hero(es) from a different angle – the risk-taking entrepreneur who has yet to realize the successes or faults of their endeavor. These individuals are the foundation to building the quality of every good and service we consume. By trial and error these individuals bring valuable information to the market necessary to provide, ultimately, exactly what the consumer wants – be it exactly what s/he is selling, something more or less than what is offered, or none of the good or service at all.

On that note, I introduce Dan Wiesel and Alysa Binder. Dan and Alysa are a husband and wife duo who’s personal interest and compassion for animals fostered their idea for an innovative new business, Pet Airways - an airline that transports pets exclusively. The service will officially launch July 14, 2009 and offer only a handful of weekly flights from five U.S. airports: Baltimore/Washington International, and non-commercial airports in the Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, and New York City areas.

Dan and Alysa’s motivation for Pet Airways stems from their dissatisfaction with current means of transport for our closest companions. According to Dan and Alysa at the company website:

“There was simply no safe way for Zoe [ a Jack Russell Terrier] to comfortably fly with us. She's not a big dog. Just a little one. But a little too big to fit under the seat. Of course, there's one thing Zoe is certainly not, and that's cargo. As we're fond of telling our neighbor Janet, her boxer Samson isn't Samsonite, and she agreed. In fact, we met lots of neighbors, friends and even complete strangers who felt exactly the same way. So we got to thinking. Maybe Zoe was trying to tell us something. Maybe there was a travel solution that would suit her perfectly, and everyone else out there too.”

Being a pet owner, I am personally excited by this idea. I’ve always heard horror stories of mishaps and injuries to animals kept in the cargo area of passenger planes. As a result, I’ve always been hesitant to “ship” my boy Charlie – a five-year old chocolate lab – whenever I travel and often end up driving long distances instead of flying myself. As Dan and Alysa point out: on Pet Airways, the “pets aren’t packages, they’re ‘pawsengers.’” In fact, aside from the flight crew and “pet attendants”, all passengers will be four-legged.

Though not much can be said about the company's success at this point, I applaud Dan and Alysa's effort and acknowledge each of them as a Hero of Capitalism.